


Star Trek AU Ep. 3: The Signal

by CaptainJZH



Series: Star Trek AU [3]
Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Star Trek Fusion, Disobeying Orders, Garak is shady, Gen, Investigations, Outer Space, Post-Movie: Star Trek Nemesis (2002)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-14 11:47:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28794906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainJZH/pseuds/CaptainJZH
Summary: The USS Rosebud receives a mysterious signal from an equally mysterious source.
Relationships: Connie Maheswaran & Steven Universe
Series: Star Trek AU [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2063880
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

_ “Captain’s Log: Stardate 56847.3. Our mission to patrol the Cardassian Border has been uneventful, with all systems showing normal conditions and nothing unusual spotted on sensors. At this time, my crew is taking the opportunity to relax.” _

“C’mon, you should go talk to her,” Peedee told Steven. The two yellow-shirted Ensigns, both in their early 20s, sat in the mess hall looking over at Connie, who was at another table chatting with Daniel and Jeff. She was a year or so younger than them, but had an accelerated course of training that put her one rank above her peers.

Steven, hearts in his eyes, didn’t hear a word Peedee was saying. “Oh, what? Sorry, uh, I was distracted.”

“Steven, you’re into Connie.”

“What? No, no, there’s no way! Me? Into Connie? Why that’s absurd, and I resent you for making such an assumption,” Steven scoffed, folding his arms in refusal.

“Steven, she’s walking over here now.”

“She’s  _ what?!”  _ Steven said, frantically looking for something to hide himself. He took his replicated lunch plate and held it up to his face. “I’m not here, you didn’t see me.”

Peedee burst into laughter. “Gotcha.”

Steven gave Peedee a look and splashed some of his drink into the latter’s face. “One more joke like that and you’re out the airlock.”

“You just gonna ignore how I proved my point?”

“...Yes, I will.”

“Steven, just go talk to her! What do you have to lose?”

“...I don’t know, but I’m sure there’s something!”

“Steven, if you don’t go ask her out on a date in the next 10 seconds, I will go to the replicator, replicate hot soup and dump it on your face.”

“...What kind of soup?”

_ “Steven.” _

“Okay, okay, I’m going,” Steven said, getting up.

Meanwhile, at the other table, Jeff, Daniel and Connie were having a similar discussion.

“Go talk to him!” Daniel urged. “Peedee’s a cool guy.”

“But what if he’s not into me? What if he says no?” Jeff asked, rambling.

“Then you can say you tried instead of wondering for the rest of your life,” Connie shrugged.

Before Jeff could do anything, Steven approached their table. “Uh, hello!” Steven greeted. “My name is…” Shit, his name! How could he forget his own name?

“Hey, Steven,” Connie greeted back. That was right! Wait, she remembered his name? “What’s up?”

“Um… Nothing! Gotta go!” Steven said, running off.

Peedee facepalmed.

\---

Pearl sat on the bridge, idly watching the viewscreen. She was getting tired of the monotony.

“Captain,” Sour Cream said, turning his chair to face her. “There’s this weird signal coming in over subspace. I can’t make it out.”

“On speakers,” Pearl nodded.

The signal sounded like 20th century television static if it were run through a blender and had a few words here and there. Pearl noticed the words. “Lieutenant, can you clean up that distortion?”

Sour Cream shrugged. “Lemme see what I can do.”

After working the communications controls as much as he could, the signal sounded a little more understandable. Pearl stood up and walked around the bridge, listening carefully.

_ “Obsidian...Alpha Red...Nine...Two...One...Eight...Black…”  _ was all she was able to make out.

“Obsidian,” Garnet remarked, standing over the tactical station. She recognized the name from more hopeful times, but was unsure of its relevance here.

“The Cardassian secret police were called the Obsidian Order,” Sadie said, knowing it from her Starfleet Security briefings.

“But they were wiped out, like, a while ago. By the Dominion,” Buck added.

“Okay, okay, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Garnet, search the database for anything captured after the surrender of Cardassia, with the phrase ‘Alpha Red Nine Two One Eight Black.’”

“You ain’t gonna find much,” Jenny chuckled.

“Yeah, didn’t the Dominion destroy most of those records?” Kiki asked.

“I don’t remember asking the whole bridge,” Pearl scolded.

“Pearl, I found something,” Garnet said. “It was an authorization code used before the war. And it was found on an Optolythic Data Rod, in the personal effects of… Elim Garak.”

“Garak?” Pearl asked. 

Elim Garak was a key figure in the Federation’s war with the Dominion, a former secret agent in the Obsidian Order and special informant to Starfleet. Pearl had only met him occasionally when the Rosebud stopped at Deep Space Nine — it hadn’t seen a day of battle in the war, relegated to the same do-nothing missions that they were always assigned to. He always asked her to come into his shop (his cover story was that he was just a simple tailor), which Pearl never seriously considered. Her only pieces of physical clothing were her uniform and her dress uniform.

Pearl went over to Garnet’s console and peered over at what looked like a Cardassian obituary. “He died?”

“Not necessarily,” Garnet said. “It looks like he just...went missing. Declared ‘dead in absentia.’”

“And we’re getting a signal with his old authorization code?” Pearl gave a smirk. “He’s not dead.”

“But why signal us?” Sadie asked.

“Yeah, it’s looking like the signal’s directed at us, not just a general distress call,” Sour Cream explained.

“Well, let’s ask him,” Pearl said, turning to Sour Cream. “Lieutenant, tell Mr. Garak that we’ve decoded his signal. Ask him what he wants with us. Use the same encryption he used.”

After Sour Cream sent their reply, they waited a few seconds, getting a reply soon after. “He’s sending coordinates.”

The coordinates were sent straight to the navigation console. Kiki’s eyes widened. “Whoa, these are on the other side of Cardassian space!”

“There’s no way Starfleet’s going to allow that,” Pearl sighed. “The second we ask for permission, they’re going to send the Defiant or someone else after it. ‘We can’t be trusted with such a sensitive mission.’”

“Then perhaps,” Garnet began, “there is an alternative. With all that distortion, it could easily be interpreted as a general distress call.”

“We would have probable cause to abandon our current mission,” Buck agreed.

“Man, I just couldn’t make out that signal, there was nothin’ I could do!” Sour Cream lied.

Pearl smiled and addressed Kiki. “Lieutenant Pizza, set course for the coordinates. Lieutenant Commander, prepare for maximum warp.”

“Setting course,” Kiki nodded.

“Commander Barriga,” Pearl asked, tapping her combadge. “We’re going to warp speed. Give me all you got.”

“You got it!” Lars replied.

The warp nacelles powered on as the ship turned towards Cardassian space, blasting the ship forward at Warp 9.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The USS Rosebud gets answer...or do they?

“Why can’t you just ask her out?” Peedee pleaded with Steven as he worked at his station in Engineering.   
  


“Peedee, I’m trying to work.”

Lars spoke up from the other side of Engineering: “Ensign, can’t you go boss your idiot brother around or something?”

“Routine security inspection, leave me alone,” Peedee warned, turning back to Steven. “You’re not  _ afraid _ of her, are you?”

“No, no, I’m not  _ afraid  _ of her… Should I be?”

Peedee snorted. “Right, right, you weren’t in the same class at the Academy as us. There’s a rumor that she beat a Klingon fair-and-square in a bat’leth-spar.”

Steven’s eyes widened, turning to Peedee. “Wait, what? Holy... wow."

"Oh yeah, they say she got the highest scores ever on the Academy's reflex and coordination tests. Dunno how true it is, but it had to come from somewhere, right?”

Steven gulped. He was immediately impressed by, and admittedly attracted to, Connie’s apparent strength and skill. If all this was true, then Connie was the most amazing girl he’d ever heard of. He wanted to ask her out even more.

“That’s...cool,” Steven casually said, trying to return to his work. “Very...cool.”

“For crying out loud, Universe,” Lars called out, “just ask her out!”

Peedee gestured to Lars and then to Steven. “See? Even Commander Barriga agrees with me!”

Before Steven could think of a response, a chime came through over the speakers:  _ “Yellow alert, this is a yellow alert. All stations, yellow alert.” _

\---

On the bridge, Pearl emerged from her Ready Room as the Rosebud dropped out of warp. “Report,” she ordered.

Garnet stood up from the Captain’s Chair. “A cloaked ship. Off the starboard bow.”

“How can you tell?” Pearl asked, before seeing a flash wipe across Garnet’s glasses. “Right, right. Mr. Dewey, try to get a fix on the location. Do a tachyon sweep.”

After a few moments, Buck spoke up with an answer. “Found it, Captain.”

“Mr. Cream,” Pearl said, turning to her Communications Officer, “hail him.”

Sour Cream hailed the cloaked vessel, which gave a prompt response. “He wants to talk to you, Captain.”

“On screen.”

“Ah yes, Captain, nice to see you cracked my code,” Garak remarked, appearing on the viewscreen. It looked like he was on the bridge of an old Obsidian Order ship. “How long has it been? It feels  _ so good  _ to reunite with old acquaintances like this.”

“I would hardly think this is a social call, Garak,” Pearl chuckled, “or is this just how you ask people out to lunch?”

“If you would just follow my warp signature, all will become clear.”

“Garak, if this is something that could put my ship in danger, I want to know about it.”

“I’m afraid I can only tell you so much,” Garak said with a sigh. “Would I ever steer you wrong?”

“Yes, yes you would.”

“Fair enough. What I can tell you is that we’re going to an old Obsidian Order facility, recently found by yours truly. I had access to their storage manifest and I have reason to believe that there’s an... _ artifact _ you’d be interested in.”

Pearl paused for a moment, considering that this was probably the most she was going to get out of the former spy. She turned to Garnet, who nodded with assurance. “Alright, we’ll follow you, Garak.”

“I won’t go too fast for you,” Garak said as the transmission ended.

Pearl shrugged and gestured to Jenny. “Commander, you heard the man.”

\---

The ship followed Garak’s warp signature until they reached a double star system — one being a Red Giant and the other a Red Dwarf — with a large asteroid field floating in orbit.

“Any points of interest?” Pearl asked.

“The radiation around the stars is interfering with our sensors,” Buck answered, “but I’m picking up a larger mass around the asteroids.”

“A dwarf planet,” Garnet said. She could See it.

“Are we still picking up Garak’s ship?” 

Buck shook his head.

Pearl thought for a moment, then turned to her first officer. “Garnet, take the helm.”

Jenny stood up from her station, allowing Garnet to take her seat and man the controls. Garnet closed her eyes, seeing only what she could perceive through her Future Vision. She took the Rosebud down to 1/4 Impulse Power, getting eerily close to several large asteroids. The rest of the crew tensed up as collision warnings flashed on their consoles, but Pearl silently sat in her chair, watching the viewscreen confidently. As the radiation grew stronger, the viewscreen became filled with static. They could hardly see anything.

“Entering standard orbit,” Garnet finally said, standing back up.

“Well I dunno what you did, Garnet, but  _ that  _ was some impressive piloting,” Jenny nodded as she returned to her station.

“Thank you,” Garnet nodded. “Don’t touch anything.”

“Understood!” Jenny said with a laugh.

“Captain, we’re being hailed again,” Sour Cream said. “Audio only, there’s too much interference for video.”

“On speakers,” Pearl ordered.

_ “A very clever hiding place, I’m sure you’ll agree!”  _ Garak said.  _ “Transporters won’t work so you’ll have to take a shuttle to the surface.” _

“Our sensors are barely functioning as is,” Pearl said. “How do you expect us to pilot a shuttle?”

_ “My shields can extend around yours, they’re specially designed for these conditions,”  _ Garak replied.  _ “If you would allow me to use my tractor beam, I can guide you to the surface base.” _

Pearl thought for a moment, and then nodded. “Alright Garak, give us 10 minutes. Pearl out.”

The transmission ended, and Pearl tapped her combadge. “Ensign Universe and Lieutenant Maheswaran to the shuttle bay.” She turned to Sadie. “Commander Miller, you’re with me. Garnet, you have the conn.”

Pearl and Sadie stepped into the turbolift, the doors shutting behind them.


	3. Chapter 3

“We’ve cleared the hangar bay, Ma’am, switching to 1/4 Impulse Power,” Connie said as she sat at the helm of the shuttlecraft. Pearl sat next to her, with Steven and Sadie sitting in the back.

“Understood, Lieutenant,” Pearl nodded. “Shuttlecraft  _ Mondale _ to Garak,  _ Mondale _ to Garak.”

_ “Garak here,”  _ the Cardassian said over the speakers.  _ “Oh, how rude of me, I shouldn’t keep myself all covered up like this.” _

Just as the shuttlecraft cleared the Rosebud’s shields, Garak’s ship — a Keldon-class Cardassian warship — decloaked and activated its tractor beam, capturing the small vessel.

_ “Now, when we land outside the facility, I presume that none of you, except for Pearl perhaps, will be able to withstand the intense solar radiation on the surface. So be prepared to use your EV suits.” _

“Sounds good, Garak.  _ Mondale _ out,” Pearl nodded.

“Do you trust him?” Sadie asked as they descended towards the planet.

“I haven’t decided,” Pearl shrugged.

On Connie’s tactical display, she saw a flashing red dot appear on the shuttle’s scanners. Then she saw a  _ lot  _ of flashing red dots. Before she could react, however, the shuttlecraft was rocked by over a dozen projectiles, as was Garak’s ship.

“Ensign Maheswaran, report!” Pearl ordered.

“Photon torpedoes, ma’am!” Connie said. “They were masked by the radiation until it was too late!”

“Ensign Universe, damage report,” Sadie said.

“Okay,” Steven began, “we have damage to the port nacelle, impulse engines are down, and thrusters are holding. I think I can get impulse power back on, though!” Steven ran to the back of the shuttle and pried open the floor panel.

“Maheswaran, see what you can do to help Ensign Universe,” Pearl said. “Sadie, can you hail Garak at all?”

“Hold on…” Sadie said, looking over her console. “Captain, I think his warp core’s going critical!” 

“Get a transporter lock on him!” Pearl ordered.

“The interference—”

“Just  _ do it,”  _ Pearl raised her voice.

Sadie tried her best to isolate a set of Cardassian life signs aboard Garak’s ship, but only managed to get a general area around the life signs. Still, it was better than nothing.

“Transporting,” Sadie said, pushing the transporter controls forward.

The familiar sound of the transporter rang throughout the shuttlecraft, as the lights dimmed and someone began to materialize in the cabin. Outside, Garak’s ship went critical and exploded in a fiery blaze of anti-matter.

“Thank you,” Garak said politely as he finished materializing. “I assure you, I was  _ not  _ expecting the facility’s defenses to still be in operation.”

“Garak, I presume you know how to operate a tactical station,” Pearl said as the shuttle descended lower and lower towards the planetoid’s surface. Garak nodded and took a seat. “Universe, Maheswaran! Status on those engines?”

“We’re working on it, Ma’am!” Connie said as she and Steven crouched over the access panel, smoke and sparks shooting out of it.

“Okay, the plasma conduits for the impulse are shot, and that’s bad,” Steven said, his voice going fast, “and the impulse generators are losing fuel, so that’s also bad.”

“Is there still power going to the thrusters?” Connie asked.

Steven knew exactly where she was going. “We can reroute the thruster power into the impulse engines through the auxiliary conduits! Hand me the hyperspanner.”

“That won’t get us much impulse,” Connie realized, handing Steven the device. “Captain, what’s our speed?”

“Ten kilometers per second and rising,” Pearl called out to them.

“What if we rerouted phaser power to the engines?” Connie suggested. “I know there’s no procedure for it, but…”

“...but it might just work!” Steven exclaimed, rushing over to the engineering console. “Captain, we’re gonna dump phaser power into the impulse. That should give us enough power to land safely.”

“Garak, are there more torpedoes heading our way?” Pearl asked.

“The Obsidian Order was notorious for only giving their facilities the bare minimum in defenses,” Garak explained. “Since they were confident no one would find them.”

“Make it so, then,” Pearl nodded, still struggling to pilot the shuttle as the ground got closer and closer.

“Ready?” Steven asked.

“Ready,” Connie nodded, having successfully jury-rigged the wiring.

Steven entered in the command, causing the shuttle to whine as power surged back into the impulse engines. Pearl got control of the shuttle back, angling it up so its speed would decrease. Their descent gradually leveled, but not enough to stop them from hitting the ground.

“Brace for impact!” Sadie shouted.

Just before the shuttle slammed into the surface, Steven realized that while he was at his engineering station, Connie was still by the access panel — a very vulnerable position. He didn’t even think about it. He leaped out of his chair and tackled her, acting as a shield around her as the shuttle crashed hard into the surface.

His body collided with the cabin walls, and his uniform got singed from the sparks shooting out of the access panel. He could take a bruising, though. He was built pretty tough.

“Everyone okay?” Pearl asked once the shuttle came to a halt.

“I’ve been better,” Garak chuckled.

“Life support’s holding,” Sadie said, glancing over her controls.

In the back of the shuttle, Steven groaned in discomfort, letting Connie go. “Steven!” Connie exclaimed. “Are you alright?”

“I am...fine,” Steven said, sitting up. “Just some bruises. I got hardy bones, heh.”

“I’ll get the dermal regenerator,” Connie said, grabbing the shuttle’s first aid kit.

“How close are we to the facility?” Pearl asked Garak, a displeased tone in her voice.

“Just under a kilometer, actually. You know, even without fully-functioning sensors, you’re still a fantastic pilot, Captain.”

“I’m flattered,” Pearl said, deadpan. She was not flattered.

Connie rolled up Steven’s sleeves, running the dermal regenerator over his bruises. It wasn’t hard to notice the young Ensign’s muscles, which were usually covered by his uniform. She knew he had a strong physique, but, well,  _ seeing  _ his thick biceps made her blush slightly.

Steven could tell she was noticing it, too, and blushed a little himself. He had quite a few admirers back at the Academy, but he was always wary of accepting the attention. Why would anyone want to pay attention to a dork like him? But with Connie...things felt different. He  _ liked it _ when she looked at him.

Their mutual blushing was interrupted by Sadie tossing them their EV suits. “Hey, suit up, we’re gonna be heading out in a few minutes.”

Steven and Connie immediately looked away from each other and tried to look casual. Steven even started whistling.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven thinks he can reason with Lapis, and the Rosebud has a plan.

_ “First officer’s log, supplemental,”  _ Garnet said.  _ “We have lost the Shuttlecraft  _ Mondale  _ on sensors, but I am confident that they have landed unscathed. The only problem now is making contact with them and retrieving them safely.” _

“Commander, I got nothin’ on their crash site,” Buck told Garnet.

Garnet, sitting in the Captain’s chair, rubbed her chin. “Thank you,” she said.

“So what do we do?” Peedee asked, manning the security console in Sadie’s place. “We gotta send a search party!”

“Noted, Ensign,” Garnet nodded.

“We don’t even know if they’re alive!” Peedee exclaimed.

“I do,” Garnet said, turning to Buck. “Mr. Dewey, find a way to cut through the interference.”

“On it,” Buck nodded.

“Mr. Cream, try to get communications through.”

“You got it, Commander,” Sour Cream nodded.

Garnet knew they were down there. She could See it.

\---

The old Cardassian facility was a short, gray structure, shaped like a trapezoid in the sand. The hot, unrestricted sun bore down on the roof, pouring burning radiation onto the well-worn building. Barren, rocky desert sands stretched out for miles. Craters from micro-meteorites scattered the landscape.

“Garak, please tell me you have access codes for this place,” Pearl said. She was the only one of them not wearing an EV suit, as radiation did not affect her Gem physique. She would have to discard her uniform for a non-irradiated one, but her body itself did not require decontamination — Gems had long ago been designed to not only withstand radiation but also actively repel it.

“Relax, Captain,” Garak said, “I still know quite a few access codes that weren’t  _ immediately  _ invalidated by my superiors following my exile from Cardassia.”

After a few tries, one finally worked, granting them access. Sadie pulled out her phaser and took the lead, Connie following behind. Steven carried a tricorder and scanned the environment. They were walking down a long, beige corridor with dust and grime covering almost every corner. The lights flickered on and off. A door was at the end of the hallway.

“Captain,” Steven began, “I can’t find any lifesigns, but there  _ is  _ a weird energy reading several kilometers underneath us.”

“Garak?” Pearl asked, looking to the shifty Cardassian.

“That would be the artifact,” Garak nodded. “The reports said it has unique energetic properties.”

“Well, how do we get there?” Sadie asked.

Connie, now ahead of them, pressed a button next to the door. The doors slid open, with a stereotypical  _ ding.  _ “Going down?” she asked with a smirk.

\---

“Commander,” Buck said, “I was able to get a partial scan through the interference.”

“You found them,” Garnet said.

“No, but I found the shuttle.”

The wrecked  _ Mondale  _ appeared on screen, the image quality fuzzy and difficult to make out. “So did they make it?” Peedee asked.

“No lifesigns, but there are indications of a structure a few kilometers east.”

“That would be the Obsidian Order facility,” Garnet nodded.

“And there's no way in  _ Hell  _ you’re gonna get a signal through that,” Sour Cream added. “I can’t even find their combadges!”

Garnet turned to Peedee. “Ensign Fryman, check the Federation database for Cardassian communications. Specifically what kinds of encryption the Obsidian Order used.”

“Commander?” Peedee asked, confused.

“I have an idea,” Garnet said with a smirk.

\---

Down at the lowest level of the facility, there were racks upon racks of captured artifacts. It reminded Steven of that 20th century film  _ Raiders of the Lost Ark.  _ The massive room seemed to go on forever.

“This place is huge!” Sadie exclaimed. “How’re we gonna find this... _ thing,  _ whatever it is?” 

Pearl turned to Garak, her hands now scoldingly on her hips. “That should be no problem at all,” Garak nodded, pulling out a PADD. “Even in immense secrecy, we Cardassians were always known for our recordkeeping...” He scrolled through the manifest, eventually finding what he was looking for. “Right this way, Captain!”

As the group walked past the endless rows of containers, Steven and Connie walked side-by-side at the back of the pack. “So… Thanks for saving me,” Connie said with a smile.

“Oh that?” Steven chuckled. “Nothing, absolutely nothing.”

“It wasn’t nothing,” Connie insisted. “You could’ve been hurt, but you still saved me. That was...cool of you.”

“Thanks,” Steven replied. Suddenly, Steven’s tricorder began beeping even louder. “Captain, I’ve got something!”

“Right over here,” Garak said, approaching a small grey container.

Just as Garak reached to open the container, Pearl grabbed his arm and aimed a phaser at him. Sadie and Connie followed suit. “Alright, Garak, before we open it, I want to know what this is all about.”

“Captain, I’m offended! Opening it will give you all the answers you seek.”

“How do we know this isn’t a trap?” Sadie asked.

“Commander, I assure you, if I wanted to kill any of you, you wouldn’t be alive to ask that question.”

Pearl thought about this for a moment, and then sighed. “Alright, open it. But no tricks.”

“Wouldn’t think of it,” Garak nodded as he entered the combination on the container. It popped open, revealing a light blue glow inside. Garak grabbed the handle of the container and pulled it off the rack, showing its contents to the group.

Inside the case was a bright blue, teardrop-shaped gemstone, restrained by a glowing forcefield. It was cracked. It was a  _ Gem.  _ It was…

“...A Lapis Lazuli,” Pearl said, letting her phaser drop to the floor in surprise.

“I told you that you would be interested,” Garak said with a smile.

\---

“Commander, there’s a huge subspace displacement off the port bow,” Buck told Garnet.

“Shields up,” Garnet ordered, “red alert.”

Warning klaxons sounded off throughout the ship as the white working lights dimmed and switched to red battle lights. Crew members dropped whatever they were doing and went to battle stations. Torpedo tubes were loaded and phasers were powered on. The Rosebud’s shields surrounded the ship. Three Obsidian Order ships decloaked in front of the Rosebud, powering up their weapons as well. The Obsidian Order had been effectively wiped out by the Dominion, but there were rumors of some remaining agents protecting the Order’s surviving assets.

“Hail them,” Garnet said.

Sour Cream shook his head. “They’re jamming our signal.”

“They’re firing!” Jenny said, her eyes going wide.

“Mr. Fryman, fire photon torpedoes,” Garnet said. “Commander Pizza, evasive maneuver alpha.”

Their shields were hit hard by a barrage of Cardassian disruptors, but the Rosebud immediately fired off five photon torpedoes, each of them hitting right on target. The Rosebud increased speed, dodging out of the way of weapons fire.

“Commander, I got the comms protocols for the Obsidian Order,” Peedee said. “But I don’t think we can get it through their jamming signal.”

Garnet had an idea, tapping her combadge. “Commander Barriga,” she said, calling down to engineering, “there must be a way to cut through this jamming signal.”

Down in engineering, Lars was busy managing the damage to the shields. “Okay, I need the magnetic interlocks checked, and keep an eye on the plasma conduits,” he told some crewmen, who nodded and ran off. Lars then heard Garnet’s message and tapped his combadge.

“If I knew how to do that, do you think I’d be  _ here?” _ Lars said with a self-deprecating laugh.

Jeff, crawling out of a Jefferies Tube, overheard the conversation and spoke up: “Commander, I think I have an idea.”

Lars scoffed as the ship shook from the disruptor impact. “Ensign, go assist—”

“Let him speak,” Garnet said.

“Okay, so, uh, when the Enterprise was sent back in time a couple years ago, the Borg tried to use their deflector dish to send a message to the Delta Quadrant,” Jeff said, speaking faster and faster as he went on. “So, that would’ve taken a lot of power, right? So, what if we rerouted power to the deflector array, and used it to send a signal down to the surface? Would, uh, that work?”

Lars blinked, thinking the idea over in his head. “You might fry the transmitter, but I think we could make that work,” he told Garnet.

“Do it,” Garnet ordered. “Garnet out.”

\---

Pearl snatched the container away from Garak, cradling it carefully. The cracked Lapis Lazuli gem laid dormant, but Pearl ripped out the wiring that powered the containment forcefield, deactivating it. The gem levitated out of the container, glowing with a bright blue light. A physical form emerged from the gem, becoming a blue woman in a flowing dress and tank top.

“Lapis,” Pearl greeted, knowing her name from her gem.

Lapis fell to the ground, exhausted and unable to move. Steven ran to her, instinctively taking her hand. “Are you okay?”

“Ensign, wait!” Sadie warned, still holding her phaser.

“Who...what...who are you?” Lapis asked.

“Ensign Steven Universe, Starfleet,” Steven greeted.

“I’m Captain Pearl,” Pearl said, “I’m sorry you’ve been held here for so long. What’s the last thing you remember?”

“You…” Lapis said in a low voice. “You’re one of  _ them.” _

“Captain?” Steven asked.

“Thousands of years ago, Garnet and I rebelled against the Gem Homeworld,” Pearl explained, slowly stepping back from Lapis. “There were reports of a Lapis Lazuli who was captured, with Homeworld thinking she was one of us.”

“They put me in a _mirror,_ trying to get me to talk. And when they evacuated, _they took me with them,”_ Lapis said, gathering her strength. “I was stuck in a Gem warehouse for thousands of years, but eventually, someone _set me free,_ and I flew here. I thought I was safe, but…”

The room began to shudder as Lapis rose her arms up and balled her fists. Steven’s tricorder began beeping wildly.

“Captain, it’s picking up a seismic disturbance,” Steven said, still standing close to Lapis.

“It’s not,” Pearl said, frozen in place.

Connie, feeling some instinctual urge, leapt towards Steven and tackled him out of the way as torrents of water erupted through the floor. Sadie took aim at Lapis and began firing her phaser. Garak picked up Pearl’s dropped phaser, taking aim as well.

“Commander Miller, Garak, cease fire!” Pearl tried to say before a water hand grabbed her and flung her across the room. Lapis rode off on a tower of water, heading to the corner of the warehouse where Pearl landed.

“She’s...she must be drawing from the groundwater,” Steven surmised, Connie still on top of him. “Um, could you…?”

“Oh, sorry,” Connie said.

“Well, that went better than expected,” Garak said as he stood up from behind the storage rack.

“Some help you were,” Sadie said with a snort. “Maheswaran, you and Universe rescue the Captain. Garak, I assume this place has a communications room or something?”

“Why yes, Commander, I believe there is,” Garak nodded.

“Then you’re with me,” Sadie nodded. “Let’s see if we can signal the Rosebud.”

Steven and Connie looked to each other and nodded, heading off towards Lapis and her ongoing destructive rampage.

\---

“I’m...I’m sorry that happened to you, I really am,” Pearl pleaded while Lapis’ water fist repeatedly slammed her into the wall.

“I don’t  _ want  _ your  _ apologies _ !” Lapis said, deepening the crater in the wall. “I just want my life back!”

Steven and Connie, both carrying phasers, crouched down behind some fallen debris. Connie showed him her phaser setting — maximum stun — and Steven followed suit with his own. Connie indicated with a gesture that they’d be firing on the count of three, but something in Steven sensed an emotional connection with Lapis. She was hurting. She’d been through so much. He was caught in this loop of thoughts about how Lapis must be feeling after being subjected not only to being captured by other Gems, but captured by the Cardassians after being freed.

He was so caught up in it that he missed Connie’s cue to fire, but that wasn’t such a bad thing, considering Lapis’ physical form was barely affected by the phaser beam. She didn’t even notice it, continuing to ram Pearl into the wall.

“It’s not working,” Connie said, setting her phaser from stun to  _ kill,  _ though it was only “kill” for humans — it had never really been tried on Gems. 

It didn’t work either, but it was able to make her form flicker like a non-solid hologram being intersected. Lapis felt a stinging sensation as a result, making her turn around and notice Steven and Connie. Steven had his phaser out, but he wasn’t taking aim. Connie was, however, and continued firing.

Lapis, annoyed by the disruption to her form, created water clones of Connie and Steven — the exact same shapes and sizes — who grabbed their phasers right out of their hands and snapped them in half.

Connie immediately searched the area for an alternative weapon, spotting a metal beam amongst the debris. The young Lieutenant dived for it, taking the beam in her hands and swinging it at the water clone. The water clone of Connie formed a beam in her hands as well, matching her movements perfectly.

As Connie and her water clone fought, Steven grabbed a sheet of paneling, using it as a shield. His clone formed a shield in return, slamming into Steven with enough force to push the Ensign a few feet away. He pushed back, straining against Lapis’ strength. But even then, he still felt a  _ connection  _ to the blue Gem. She couldn’t be  _ truly  _ bad. Steven didn’t believe anyone was, but Lapis? Fighting her simply wasn’t the way.

“Lapis, you don’t have to do this!” Steven called out as Lapis slammed Pearl into the wall. “I know you’ve been hurt, and you feel like...like you have to make other people hurt too.”

“You…” Lapis began, Steven’s words distracting her, “you don’t know how I feel!”

“I know that deep down, you don’t want to fight!” Steven said as his water clone threw him to the ground. He dodged out of the way as the clone formed a knife, trying to stab him. “You’re tired of fighting, and…” 

Steven looked at his makeshift shield and threw it away. “And so am I.”

“Ensign, what are you…” Connie struggled to say as she was pinned down by her water clone.

The clones froze in place as Lapis stopped to think about Steven’s words. She remembered how he rushed to help her when she was freed. Was that genuine? She didn’t know, but his words made sense. She didn’t want to fight anymore. She was  _ tired. _

Lapis unballed her water fist, dropping Pearl to the floor.

“I’m...I’m sorry,” she said, floating down to the floor and hugging her arms.

\---

Garak and Sadie entered the abandoned communications room, prying open the formerly-automatic doors. The room was beige, with dust covering every inch of the room like it hadn’t been touched in years. Old computer consoles sat dormant.

“C’mon,” Sadie ordered, “help me get one of these terminals working.”

“Lucky for you, I might have an access code that works here,” Garak nodded.

“My hero,” Sadie said, rolling her eyes.

\---

Back on the Rosebud, the bridge shook as they continued to take disruptor fire from the Cardassians.

“Mr. Barriga, Mr. Brooks,” Garnet said, gripping the armrests of the Captain’s chair, “tell me the status of the deflector.”

“We’re almost ready, Commander,” Lars said from Engineering. “Ensign Brooks is entering the Obsidian Order’s encryption codes now.”

“Keep the channel open as long as possible,” Garnet reminded them. “They probably won’t know that comms are open right away.”

“Understood!” Jeff said, finalizing the modifications to the deflector.

Garnet was about to order another evasive maneuver when a bright flash of white enveloped her vision. Suddenly, she was surrounded completely by pure white. It felt like she was both floating and standing at the same time.

“Show yourself!” Garnet demanded. Her future vision was  _ blank.  _ No past, no future. Wherever she was, time had no meaning. And that scared her.

_ “Garnet,”  _ a voice called out to her.

Garnet turned around and saw the famed Captain Benjamin Sisko, who had become “one with the Prophets” within the Bajoran Wormhole, standing before her. She gasped in surprise, taking several steps back.

“Captain Sisko,” Garnet said. She had met him in passing on their occasional stops to Deep Space Nine.

“Listen closely,” Sisko told her. “I can’t tell you much, but I can tell you this: Keep an eye on Ensign Universe and Lieutenant Maheswaran. They’re more powerful than you know.”

Garnet was silent, unsure of what to say.

“You’re going to need them for what’s coming,” Sisko concluded.

Before Garnet could reply, she found herself right back on the bridge.

“Commander, we’re ready,” Lars said over her combadge. “Commander?”

Garnet took a couple seconds to find her bearings again. “Open the channel,” she ordered.

\---

Lapis had ceased using her hydrokinesis, causing tons of water to fall down on Steven, Pearl and Connie. Their uniforms were soaked. Connie breathed heavily, still unsure if it was all over. Pearl felt her form ache from the repeated impacts with the wall. Steven walked over to Lapis, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

“It’s okay. We’re not going to hurt you,” he told her.

“Even after what I did to you?” she asked. “You should hate me…”

“You’re hurt,” Steven said, noticing the crack in her gemstone.

“After...after I escaped from Homeworld, I came here… There was this  _ guy,  _ Gul Dukat or something… He  _ manipulated  _ me. Made me think he was my friend. And then he gave me up to these people… I was so surprised, I… I didn’t fight back, they cracked my gem and… I ended up here.”

Pearl finally stood up and approached her. “No one should have to go through that. I really am sorry, Lapis.” 

“I don’t know what to say,” Lapis stammered.

Pearl reached into her gem and summoned a vial of Rose’s tears. There were only a few drops left. “Maybe this will make up for it,” she said, opening the vial and pouring what was left onto Lapis’ gem.

Her gem lit up, shining a bright blue, as its cracks healed. Her eyes, formerly glassy and without pupils, blinked with clarity. Wings sprouted from her gem as she gasped with surprise.

_ “How…?”  _ Lapis asked, turning to Steven and Connie, who both shrugged.

“It’s a long story,” Pearl said.


	5. Chapter 5

As Pearl, Lapis, Connie and Steven found their bearings, a voice came through on Pearl’s combadge. It was Sadie. “Captain, are you there?” she asked.

“We’re here, Commander,” Pearl nodded. “What’s your status?”

“We’ve established communications with the Rosebud, Captain,” Sadie answered. “They’re using the deflector to cut through the interference.”

“Patch me through,” Pearl ordered. In a few moments, Garnet’s voice came through. It was distorted and crackling, but it was audible.

“Pearl, we saw that your shuttlecraft crash-landed,” Garnet said.

“It’s beyond repair,” Pearl said. “But otherwise we’re alright.” She looked over at Lapis, who was sitting down on the floor next to Steven as Connie checked him for injuries. “Garnet, the artifact that Garak brought us here for… it’s… she’s… she’s a Lapis Lazuli.”

Garnet was silent as she took in this information. A Lapis Lazuli? Here? She should have Seen it coming, but fate had a way of throwing curveballs if she wasn’t looking for them.

“That’s...unexpected,” Garnet said.

“I’ll say,” Pearl said with a laugh. She took notice of Lapis’ wings, still extended outwards. “But I think we have our way back to the ship. I’ll fill you in later.”

“I look forward to it,” Garnet said. “Garnet out.”

Just as the transmission ended, the Rosebud’s transmitter burned out from the power surging through it, frying the long-range communications system.

The away team was on their own now.

\---

“So this is your ship?” Lapis asked as they stepped out into the hot wasteland surrounding the facility. Steven, Connie, Sadie and Garak were back in their EV suits, with Pearl and Lapis going without.

“It was our shuttlecraft,” Pearl explained. “Universe, Maheswaran? Make sure the life support and inertial dampeners are stable. Miller, keep an eye on Garak.”

“Captain, I am  _ surprised—”  _ Garak tried to say as Pearl ignored him entirely.

“Lapis, are you sure you can handle it? It sounded like they were under attack, it could get rough up there.”

Lapis balled her fists and took a deep breath. “I think I can do it.”

\---

“Captain, the  _ Mondale  _ is on sensors,” Buck said. “Six life signs.”

“Six?” Sour Cream remarked, surprised. “Didn’t they leave with…?”

“Five,” Garnet said with a smirk. “On screen.”

The shuttlecraft’s engines were inactive, but it flew through space at lightning speed. Lapis Lazuli held onto the top of the  _ Mondale _ , her wings flapping rapidly.

“Their speed is nearing full impulse,” Buck said, taking off his glasses with shock.

“She’s holding back,” Garnet chuckled. “Hail them, Mr. Cream.”

“On speakers,” Sour Cream nodded.

_ “Garnet, I see you have a Cardassian problem,”  _ Pearl said.

“I see you have a Lapis Lazuli solution,” Garnet replied.

_ “Is the tractor beam operational?”  _ Pearl asked.

“I like the way you think,” Garnet said with a smile. She turned to Buck. “Mr. Dewey, secure the shuttle with the tractor beam.”

In the shuttle, Pearl tapped her combadge. “Lapis, I need you to let go of the shuttle and attack the enemy ships.”

Lapis, having been given a combadge, answered. “Enemy ships?” she asked, looking up at the Cardassian warships firing at the Rosebud. “I… I don’t know…”

“You can do it, Lapis,” Pearl assured her. “Just imagine that we’re back in the facility, and you’re trying to kill me.”

Lapis was silent for a moment, and then spoke: “If I was trying to kill you, we wouldn’t be talking right now.”

With that, Lapis let go of the  _ Mondale,  _ which was immediately grabbed by the Rosebud’s tractor beam. Lapis flapped her wings faster and faster, propelling herself at nearly light speed towards the enemy ships. She then stopped on a dime right in front of them, their disruptors struggling to lock onto her.

“Hello there,” Lapis greeted with faux-cheerfulness. “Are you the guys who kept me here for so long?” She waited for a response. “Oh wait…  _ I don’t care.” _

Her wings then formed into gigantic water fists which she thrusted straight through the first ship, slicing through its shields and hull like it was nothing. It continued right into the warp core, breaching the antimatter containment and causing the warp core to explode. She did the same with the second vessel, taking it out in a matter of seconds. The third ship immediately powered on its engines and warped off, leaving as quickly as it arrived.

Lapis looked down at the planet, then back at the Rosebud, breathing a long sigh. Debris floated past Lapis as she hugged herself, unsure of what to do next.

Eventually, however, she made her way towards the Rosebud.

\---

“And you’re sure she can be trusted?” Admiral Ross, a much more amicable superior than Nechayev, asked Pearl over subspace.

“Believe me Admiral, I remember this Lapis Lazuli from the Rebellion,” Pearl explained. “If she didn’t trust us, we’d know by now.”

“If you say so,” Ross sighed. “You’re ordered back to Earth for repairs.”

“Admiral, surely there are closer starbases,” Pearl tried to say, before being cut off.

“Captain, we just received Picard’s casualty report for the Battle of the Bassen Rift,” he said, trying to find the words. “Lieutenant Commander Data is dead.”

Pearl hesitated, trying to process the news. “Admiral?”

“They’re organizing a memorial service next week in San Francisco… For what it’s worth, I’m sorry too. He was a good officer.”

“I know…” Pearl sighed. “Rosebud out.”

Pearl sat silent in her Ready Room for a few minutes, staring out the window as stars whizzed past. She would tell Garnet the news later.

For now, however, she simply cried.

\---

Lapis entered the mess hall, her mind in a funk. She didn’t know what to do with herself. This part of the galaxy  _ felt  _ like a welcoming place, but she still couldn’t shake the uncertainty. Luckily, the mess hall wasn’t that crowded — she never cared much for crowds — with some familiar faces, too. She saw Connie and what she assumed were her friends sitting at a table in the corner. They looked happy. She also saw Steven, sitting at the bar, idly staring at his Synthale.

“Steven?” Lapis asked, sitting down next to him.

“What? Oh, hi Lapis. How are you doing?”

“Just looking around,” Lapis shrugged. “It’s a nice ship. You?”

“I’m...thinking,” Steven said. “There’s something I wanna do, but I guess I’m not sure if I should do it? Sorry if that doesn’t make sense.”

“That makes perfect sense, Steven,” Lapis said, taking a deep breath. She looked up at the ceiling, then down at her cerulean hands. “You can’t worry so much about what-ifs. Because someday you might not get the chances you thought you had, and you’ll regret it.”

Steven looked over at Connie and her friends. Then it all clicked for Lapis. “Go to her, Steven,” she encouraged.

Steven looked back at Lapis, who gave him a reassuring nod. With that, Steven stood up, ready to ask Connie out. 

“Thanks, Lapis,” he said.

\---

Garnet sat in her quarters in front of her personal computer terminal. “Computer, show me the top five Esper ratings for Rosebud crewmembers.”

_ “Working,”  _ the computer began as it tabulated the results.  _ “The top five Espers on the USS Rosebud are: Ensign Fryman, Commander Barriga, Lieutenant Commander Miller, Ensign Universe, and Junior Lieutenant Maheswaran.” _

“Compare and contrast that with Esper rankings for all of Starfleet.”

_ “Working… Ensign Universe and Lieutenant Maheswaran are the only crewmembers from the USS Rosebud with exceptional Aperception Quotients.” _

“Tell me their rankings,” Garnet ordered.

_ “Ensign Universe and Lieutenant Maheswaran are currently tied for the highest Esper ratings in Starfleet.” _

Garnet sat in silence for a minute, Captain Sisko’s words still weighing on her mind. She closed her eyes, sorting through the paths of fate with her future vision. There were a lot of possibilities, especially for Steven and Connie, but one thing was certain.

Those two were going to be important.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, special thanks to Goodyfresh and E350tb!


End file.
